Protective garment having outer shell, inner liner and standards indicia

ABSTRACT

A protective garment having an outer shell, when worn without an inner liner, conforms to and displays, on the outer shell, an indicium or indicia that the protective garment conforms to at least one standard for protective garments, such as NFPA 1999 (03), NFPA 1951 (01), or both. When worn within the protective garment, the inner liner causes the protective garment to conform to and displays an indicium or indicia that the protective garment conforms to at least one standard, which is a different standard, for protective garments, such as NFPA 1971 (00). When the inner liner is worn within the outer shell, a tag displaying the indicium or indicia displayed on the inner liner is manipulatable and is attachable detachably to the outer shell, via coactive elements, such as coactive elements of a hook-and-loop fastener, so as to mask the indicium or indicia displayed by the outer shell but so as to display the indicium or indicia displayed by the inner liner.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention pertains to a protective garment, such as a protective coat, protective pants, protective coveralls, or protective overalls, which is worn by a firefighter or by an emergency rescue worker.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

As exemplified in U.S. Pat. No. 5,038,410, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein, it is known to provide a protective garment, which has an outer shell and a thermal liner, with a tab extending from the thermal liner. The tab is attachable detachably to the outer shell, as an indicator that the thermal liner is being worn within the outer shell.

Other protective garments having liner-detecting or liner-indication features are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,507,806, No. 4,774,725, No. 4,768,233, and No. 4,817,210 (which are discussed in columns 1 and 2 of U.S. Pat. No. 5,038,410) and in U.S. Pat. No. 4,386,438.

As exemplified in U.S. Pat. No. 6,339,843 B1, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein, it is known for a protective garment having an outer shell, a thermal liner, and a liner including a moisture barrier to be selectively configured with neither liner attached within the outer shell, with either liner attached within the outer shell, or with both liners attached within the outer shell.

At a firefighting or other emergency incident, it is important for responsible personnel, such as incident commanders and safety officers, quickly to ascertain whether the protective garments worn by personnel responding to the incident are appropriate for the incident.

Commonly, such personnel refer to National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standards, which currently include NFPA 1999 (03) for “Protective Clothing for Emergency Medical Operations”, which commonly and hereinafter is abbreviated as NFPA 1999, NFPA 1992 (00) for “Liquid Splash-Protective Clothing for Hazardous Materials Emergencies”, which commonly and hereinafter is abbreviated as NFPA 1992, NFPA 1977 (98) for “Protective Clothing and Equipment for Wildland Fire Fighting”, which commonly and hereinafter is abbreviated as NFPA 1977, NFPA 1971 (00) “Protective Ensemble for Structural Firefighting”, which commonly and hereinafter is abbreviated as NFPA 1971, and NFPA 1951 (01) for “Protective Ensemble for USAR Operations”, which commonly and hereinafter is abbreviated as NFPA 1951. USAR is an acronym for Urban Search and Rescue.

Broadly, for a protective garment to conform to NFPA (1977), the protective garment must have an outer shell but does not have to have a liner providing a moisture barrier or a thermal liner. Broadly, for a protective garment to conform to NFPA 1999, to NFPA 1992, or to NFPA 1951, the protective garment must have a liner providing a moisture barrier, as well as an outer shell, but does not have to have a thermal liner. Broadly, for a protective garment to conform to NFPA 1971, the protective garment must have an outer shell, a liner providing a moisture barrier, and a thermal liner.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention combines a protective garment, which has an outer shell, and a liner, which is wearable within the protective garment. The protective garment is wearable without the liner. When worn without or without the liner, the protective garment displays an indicium or indicia that the protective garment conforms to at least one standard for protective garments. The liner, when worn within the protective garment, displays an indicium or indicia that the protective garment conforms to at least one standard, which is a different standard, for protective garments.

Preferably, when the liner is worn within the protective garment, the indicium or indicia displayed by the inner liner is manipulatable so as to mask the indicium or indicia displayed by the protective garment when worn with or without the liner. The indicium or indicia displayed by the liner may be thus displayed on a tag, which extends from the liner and which, when the liner is worn within the outer shell, is manipulatable so as to mask the indicium or indicia displayed by the protective garment when worn with or without the liner but so as to display the indicium or indicia displayed by the liner. Preferably, the tag, when manipulated so as to mask the indicium or indicia displayed by the protective garment when worn with or without the liner, is attachable detachably to the outer shell. Preferably, the tag is attachable detachably to the outer shell, via coactive elements on the outer shell and on the tag respectively.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary, partly broken away, front view of a protective ensemble including a protective coat, which comprises an outer shall, an intermediate liner providing a moisture barrier, and a thermal liner and in which the outer shell displays indicia (“1999” and “1951”) which are abbreviated indications that the protective coat, when worn with or without the thermal liner, conforms to two relevant standards, namely, NFPA 1999 and NFPA 1951.

FIG. 2 is a similar view, wherein a tag extending from the thermal liner has been manipulated and has been attached detachably to the outer shell, via coacting hook-and-loop elements, so as mask the indicia displayed by the protective coat but so as to display an indicium (“1971”) that the protective coat conforms to a different standard, namely, NFPA 1971.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENT

As illustrated, a protective ensemble for a firefighter comprises a protective coat 10, a pair of protective pants 12, and a pair of protective gloves 14, only one of which is illustrated. The protective coat 10 comprises an outer shell 20, an intermediate liner 22 providing a moisture barrier, and a thermal liner 30, which is wearable within the protective coat 10 and which, as illustrated, is being worn within the intermediate liner 22. The protective coat 10 is wearable without the thermal liner 30.

A fabric tab 40 is attached, as by stitching, to the thermal liner 30 so as to extend from a lower edge 32 of the thermal liner 30. The fabric tab 40 has an expansive surface 42 facing outwardly when the fabric tab 40 is allowed to hang freely from the thermal liner 30 and an expansive surface 44 facing inwardly when the fabric tab 40 is allowed to hang freely from the thermal liner 30.

A hook-and-loop attaching means, such as a Velcro™ fastener, is provided, which comprises a hook-faced, fabric panel 52 and a loop-faced, fabric panel 54. The hook-faced, fabric panel 52 is attached, as by stitching, adhesively, or in both ways, to an end portion 46 of the fabric tab 40, so as to face facing outwardly when the fabric tab 40 is allowed to hang freely from the thermal liner 30, as illustrated in FIG. 1. The loop-faced, fabric panel 54 is attached, as by stitching, adhesively, or in both ways, to the outer shell 20 so as to face outwardly.

A smaller, fabric panel 60 is attached, as by stitching, to the loop-faced, fabric panel 54, so as to cover a central portion of the loop-faced, fabric panel 54 but so as not to cover outer, marginal portions of the loop-faced, fabric panel 54. In an alternative embodiment, which is not illustrated, the smaller, fabric panel 60 is sewn to the outer shell 20, beneath the loop-faced, fabric panel 54. The fabric tab 40 can be upwardly folded (manipulated) from its freely hanging position, as illustrated in FIG. 1, to an upwardly folded position, as illustrated in FIG. 2. In the upwardly folded position of the fabric tab 40, the end portion 46 of the fabric tab 40 covers the loop-faced, fabric panel 54, so as to mask the smaller, fabric panel 60, and outer, marginal portions of the hook-faced, fabric panel coact with outer, marginal portions of the loop-faced, fabric panel 54, so as to attach the end portion 46 of the fabric tab 40 detachably to the outer shell 20.

The smaller, fabric panel 60 displays two indicia, namely, “1999” and “1951”. The indicium “1999” is an abbreviated indicium that the protective coat 10, when worn without the thermal liner 30, conforms to NFPA 1999. The indicium “1951 is an abbreviated indicium that the protective coat 10, when worn without the thermal liner 30, conforms to NFPA 1951. In the upwardly folded position of the fabric tab 40, the hook-faced, fabric panel 52 masks the indicia displayed by the smaller, fabric panel 60.

The fabric tab 40 displays an indicium “1971” on the end portion 46, so as to face inwardly when the fabric tab 40 is allowed to hand freely, as illustrated in FIG. 1. In the upwardly folded position of the fabric tab 40, when the end portion 46 of the fabric tab 40 masks the indicia displayed by the smaller, fabric panel 60, the indicium “1971” displayed by the fabric tab 40 faces outwardly. The indicium “1971” is an abbreviated indicium that the protective coat 10, which comprises the outer shell 20 and the thermal liner 30, conforms to NFPA 1971.

Although this invention, as illustrated and as described above, is embodied in a protective coat, this invention can be similarly embodied in protective garments of different types, such as protective pants, protective overalls, or protective coveralls. 

1. A protective garment comprising an outer shell and combined with a liner, the protective garment being wearable without the liner, wherein, when worn without the inner liner, the protective garment displays an indicium or indicia that the protective garment conforms to at least one standard for protective garments, and wherein the liner, when worn within the outer shell, displays an indicium or indicia that the protective garment conforms to at least one standard, which is a different standard, for protective garments.
 2. The protective garment of claim 1, wherein, when the liner is worn within the protective garment, the indicium or indicia displayed by the liner is manipulatable so as to mask the indicium or indicia displayed by the protective garment when worn without the liner.
 3. The protective garment of claim 2, wherein the indicium or indicia displayed by the liner is displayed or are displayed on a tag, which extends from the inner liner and which, when the inner liner is worn within the protective garment, is manipulatable so as to mask the indicium or indicia displayed by the protective garment when worn without the liner.
 4. The protective garment of claim 3, wherein the tag, when manipulated so as to mask the indicium or indicia displayed on the outer shell, is attachable detachably to the outer shell.
 5. The protective garment of claim 4, wherein the tag is attachable detachably to the outer shell, via coactive elements on the outer shell and on the tag respectively. 